T.R. Pearson's Blog, page 8
May 30, 2013
Brave New World: Kickstarter Edition
I got many responses on my entry from February about the state of publishing and my feeble place in the business. Most of them were variations on "QUIT WHINING!", but a number of people suggested I try Kickstarter to raise a little writing, printing, and promotional money.
After poking around their website, that's just what I did. So, yes, I am writing a new novel, and here's your chance to pitch in and help.
There's a description of the book on the project page and a video of yours truly being unphotogenic. I want to believe my goal is modest, but who knows?
I hope you'll think of this as a way to pay for your copies of a new TRP novel in advance. For your money, you'll get a story in the vein of CRY ME A RIVER, though this is not a Ray Tatum novel. The guy at the center of this book is older and grumpier but about as disaffected as Ray and, with any luck, as funny.
I'm fifty pages in and having a heck of a good time. I intend to complete the book by mid November, get it copy edited and set up for printing, and have finished books by early February. With your input, I'll cook up a promotional schedule that will carry me to bookstores near you.
Any support you can give me will be very welcome. I've offered rewards at every possible level, from $10 up. Dragoon your friends and family (which is what I'm about to do) safe in the knowledge that "crowdfunding" sounds infinitely more respectable than "begging."
Thanks in advance.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1...
After poking around their website, that's just what I did. So, yes, I am writing a new novel, and here's your chance to pitch in and help.
There's a description of the book on the project page and a video of yours truly being unphotogenic. I want to believe my goal is modest, but who knows?
I hope you'll think of this as a way to pay for your copies of a new TRP novel in advance. For your money, you'll get a story in the vein of CRY ME A RIVER, though this is not a Ray Tatum novel. The guy at the center of this book is older and grumpier but about as disaffected as Ray and, with any luck, as funny.
I'm fifty pages in and having a heck of a good time. I intend to complete the book by mid November, get it copy edited and set up for printing, and have finished books by early February. With your input, I'll cook up a promotional schedule that will carry me to bookstores near you.
Any support you can give me will be very welcome. I've offered rewards at every possible level, from $10 up. Dragoon your friends and family (which is what I'm about to do) safe in the knowledge that "crowdfunding" sounds infinitely more respectable than "begging."
Thanks in advance.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1...
March 16, 2013
The Bald Jeeter Lives!
Well, sort of. The electronic edition of Off For The Sweet Hereafter is finally available (for $2.99). It'll be Kindle only, as will all of my ebooks from now on. My sales at B&N are a very scant fraction of my Amazon sales, so I've enrolled all of my titles in Amazon Select. That will make them lendable to Prime customers at no charge and available to my many fans in India!! (you know who you are), but the books must be exclusive to Amazon in order to qualify.
We all have tablets now anyway, right? Nook. Kindle. Who cares? We've got the apps.
Also, thanks for the responses to my previous post. My resolve still holds, but I'm very pleased to hear from those of you who've enjoyed my books through the years. It was fun while it lasted.
We all have tablets now anyway, right? Nook. Kindle. Who cares? We've got the apps.
Also, thanks for the responses to my previous post. My resolve still holds, but I'm very pleased to hear from those of you who've enjoyed my books through the years. It was fun while it lasted.
February 28, 2013
I Haven't Been Here In A While
I've been too busy trying to make a living as a writer. No easy thing these days. As many of you know, I've lately been writing crime novels under the name Rick Gavin. A couple of them have been published by St. Martin's Press. Another one is due out in September of this year.
Writing these books has been a pleasant release -- they're rough and profane and funny in ways I haven't attempted in other novels -- but watching them get published has convinced me that the business as we know it is doomed. The model I grew up with in publishing (free publicity via reviews) simply doesn't apply anymore. Too many books. Too few reviewers. Lots of silence.
Book publicists seem to think the answer is social media. "Go on Twitter!" they tell me. You go on Twitter. I'd rather do something else.
Just now that something else is taking the form of TV writing. Pitching shows. Writing pilot scripts. Waiting for networks to sift and sort. I get paid well enough. A TV script -- at 55 pages of margins -- is a heck of a lot easier to write than a novel, so perhaps this is my future. Who knows?
As a book writer, I've tried literary fiction, non-fiction, genre fiction, ghost writing, co-writing, free-lance editing. Just about anything that seemed like a viable way of making a career out of books, but I find I'm no longer up to the struggle.
Even if I wrote the most splendid novel you can imagine, no editor would buy it and no house would publish it. The reason? I have the worst thing you can have in publishing: a past.
I've made a living out of writing books -- sometimes a very good living -- for going on thirty years, but there's just no room for me or writers like me in the business anymore.
Consequently, I doubt I'll be writing another novel. I'm very grateful to all of you who've supported me through the years. As I recover the rights to my books, you can be sure I'll keep them available and priced to sell.
Happy reading. Signing off. trp
Writing these books has been a pleasant release -- they're rough and profane and funny in ways I haven't attempted in other novels -- but watching them get published has convinced me that the business as we know it is doomed. The model I grew up with in publishing (free publicity via reviews) simply doesn't apply anymore. Too many books. Too few reviewers. Lots of silence.
Book publicists seem to think the answer is social media. "Go on Twitter!" they tell me. You go on Twitter. I'd rather do something else.
Just now that something else is taking the form of TV writing. Pitching shows. Writing pilot scripts. Waiting for networks to sift and sort. I get paid well enough. A TV script -- at 55 pages of margins -- is a heck of a lot easier to write than a novel, so perhaps this is my future. Who knows?
As a book writer, I've tried literary fiction, non-fiction, genre fiction, ghost writing, co-writing, free-lance editing. Just about anything that seemed like a viable way of making a career out of books, but I find I'm no longer up to the struggle.
Even if I wrote the most splendid novel you can imagine, no editor would buy it and no house would publish it. The reason? I have the worst thing you can have in publishing: a past.
I've made a living out of writing books -- sometimes a very good living -- for going on thirty years, but there's just no room for me or writers like me in the business anymore.
Consequently, I doubt I'll be writing another novel. I'm very grateful to all of you who've supported me through the years. As I recover the rights to my books, you can be sure I'll keep them available and priced to sell.
Happy reading. Signing off. trp
November 13, 2012
Ray Tatum on the Tube (Quick Update)
This Ray Tatum TV show -- called Blue Ridge -- has been a glacial enterprise so far. As things stand, David Kelley (of Harry's Law, etc..) has signed on to run the show. He and I collaborated on a pilot script rewrite, and now DK is out trying to cast the thing and place it with a network. I'm largely sitting on my hands, which I'm pretty good at.
I'll let you know what happens, if anything does. Getting to collaborate with David Kelley is just about prize enough for me.
I'll let you know what happens, if anything does. Getting to collaborate with David Kelley is just about prize enough for me.
April 7, 2012
Six Degrees of Jennifer Aniston
The NBC book I've been working on with Warren Littlefield, Top of the Rock, is excerpted in the new issue of Vanity Fair. It's the TV issue with a quartet of half-naked actresses on the cover. Can't miss it. The link to the web teaser for the excerpt is below. If you think you know everything about Friends that you'll ever need to know, you're sadly mistaken. Borderline delusional.
http://www.vanityfair.com/online/osca...
http://www.vanityfair.com/online/osca...
February 22, 2012
Druid City
I'm currently teaching a class in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where the football team (as it turns out) has a university. Last April's tornado left a scar through the place that is about a mile wide and runs from the southwest corner of the city, diagonally across town, to the northeast corner. Even almost a year later, the destruction is breath taking.
Tuscaloosa was known for its druid oaks. Now scores of them are just trunks and shattered limbs. I came across one the other day full of battered aluminum siding. This place will be a very long time getting back to normal -- whatever that is.
I thought I'd take this occasion to update Ray Tatum progress. We're still pressing forward. The pilot script is written, and I'm closing in on the final polish. I think we'll begin courting the networks in June.
It's still a longshot, but it's ALIVE!
Tuscaloosa was known for its druid oaks. Now scores of them are just trunks and shattered limbs. I came across one the other day full of battered aluminum siding. This place will be a very long time getting back to normal -- whatever that is.
I thought I'd take this occasion to update Ray Tatum progress. We're still pressing forward. The pilot script is written, and I'm closing in on the final polish. I think we'll begin courting the networks in June.
It's still a longshot, but it's ALIVE!
January 21, 2012
Magazine News
I'm told that Top of the Rock, the NBC book, will be excerpted in Vanity Fair. I'm not yet sure of the issue, though I suspect the excerpt will run in either May or June [the May issue, I'm now told, available around April 15th]. It's wonderful exposure for the book and a real tribute to the caliber of entertainment our interview subjects brought to the story.
Expect lots of behind-the-scenes photographs as well. Also expect to come away smelling like Sensuous Nude, from Estee Lauder. You're welcome.
Expect lots of behind-the-scenes photographs as well. Also expect to come away smelling like Sensuous Nude, from Estee Lauder. You're welcome.
January 11, 2012
Top of the Rock
The first pre-publication review for the book I wrote with Warren Littlefield about NBC's Must See TV glory years came in the other day. It's a good one. This is a very entertaining book thanks to all of the professionally funny people who contributed to it. Take a look.
http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0...
http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0...
October 25, 2011
Ray Tatum on the Tube
This whole "let's put on a show" thing is kind of involved. I started pitching Warwolf as the basis for a TV show back in the summer. July maybe. The process went in fits and starts, but now I can say I'm just about to begin the pilot script for 20th Century Fox. I'm working with a producer I like quite a lot. Her story-telling instincts are impeccable while mine can be a little suspect at times. And we get valuable input from a studio exec who's also very sharp and incisive. It's a good mix.
The odds of this show ever popping up on your TV are still quite long, but you can't win if you don't play. I'll let you know if anything momentous happens. Pray for Ray. I'm about to put him through the wringer.
The odds of this show ever popping up on your TV are still quite long, but you can't win if you don't play. I'll let you know if anything momentous happens. Pray for Ray. I'm about to put him through the wringer.
September 21, 2011
New editions of Gospel Hour and Cry Me A River are now available (sort of)
The electronic editions of Cry Me A River and Gospel Hour are up for sale at B&N for $2.99. The Kindle version of Gospel Hour is available at Amazon for the same price. Cry Me A River is being held up "in review" because the geniuses at Amazon (oh wait, that's Apple) don't seem to believe I am the author and hold the copyright to the book. I don't quite know why they've decided this. I'm not sure they know. I've asked, but so far I'm getting monolithic silence.
I have been informed that Amazon cares deeply about copyright issues. I wouldn't know anything about that being . . . you know. . . a writer.
Like the New York City subway, Amazon is great when it works and a Kafka fever dream when it doesn't. More later.
UPDATE: Cry Me A River is now available in its Kindle edition at Amazon. Apparently, I wrote it.
I have been informed that Amazon cares deeply about copyright issues. I wouldn't know anything about that being . . . you know. . . a writer.
Like the New York City subway, Amazon is great when it works and a Kafka fever dream when it doesn't. More later.
UPDATE: Cry Me A River is now available in its Kindle edition at Amazon. Apparently, I wrote it.
